Dear Friends,

In March, we have a chance to celebrate the lives of two patron Saints, David, the Patron Saint of Wales and Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, whilst   Mothering Sunday in the middle of the month enables us to recall how the Church has cared for us and taught us our faith down through the years, as well as to celebrate the lives of all those who played a part in bringing each one of us up, particularly our Mums.

At the end of the month, we arrive at the start Holy Week. We first of all remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey on Palm Sunday, when he was greeted as a popular hero. By the end of the week, he will have eaten his last meal with his Disciples, which we remember each time we celebrate Holy Communion, before being betrayed by Judas and being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane once the meal was over.  These events we remember on Maundy Thursday. Twenty Fours later, on Good Friday, Jesus will have been tried twice, once before Caiaphas the High Priest and then by Pilate, the Roam Governor who has him flogged, before having him crucified and put to death on a cross.

 As Jesus is dying, he asks God to forgive those who had put him to death. “Father, forgive them” he says, “They do not know what they are doing”.   By dying in such a way, Jesus reveals his great love for both them and us and enables our wrongdoing to be forgiven. He also fulfils what the Prophet Isaiah had said about God’s Suffering Servant centuries earlier. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed”.

 God bless.

Andrew